Shaping the future of Gulf sport

Qatar is set to become the region's focal point for training emerging sports talent as the Aspire Academy of Sports Excellence (ASPIRE) opens to Gulf and Arab nationals.

The academy is to launch talent identification programmes across the Gulf region and North Africa starting from the next academic year according to Andreas Bleicher, sports manager for Aspire.

"We are to open the Academy to talented youth across the Gulf region and North Africa to offer the most talented a chance to get the best available sport training," Bleicher told a press conference.

Bleicher said the Academy will start its identification programmes outside Qatar next year. Students from these countries will be offered scholarships to attend the training institute and boarding school.

Aspire, a government-funded sports and academic institution, aims to host up to 1,000 talented boys and girls from Qatar and the Gulf region and mould them into future Olympic champions.

The objective of the Academy, which opened its doors in September 2004, is also to promote physical exercise and a healthy lifestyle among Qatari residents at large.

The ambitious training programme is matched by a visionary construction project that will lead to the creation, by this year's end, of the world's biggest covered sports stadium.

A staggering 290,000 square metre dome-shaped structure designed by French architect Roger Tallibert, will house an Olympic-size swimming and diving pool, a full sized grass football field, a 200-metre athletics track, gymnasiums, two squash courts and eight fencing strips, among other facilities.

The Academy, which is currently hosting a first group of 92 young talented students from Qatar, has recently completed its country-wide talent identification programme, a huge evaluation effort that has assessed the sporting potential of over 5,000 children across the country.

Bleicher said between 50 and 70 children passed the tests that examined the physical, emotional and intellectual readiness of students to become sporting champions.

About 50 of them will have the chance to join Aspire as student-athletes starting from September 2005, with access to some of the world's most advanced training and development facilities.

Meanwhile, the Academy is planning to start preparatory training courses for Qatari children aged between 6 and 10 in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Olympic Committee, with the aim of encouraging physical activity while identifying new talents for the Academy.

The first bunch of student-athletes from Aspire has already returned from regional championships bearing gold medals, following highly successful performances against schools and athletic institutions from across the Middle East and Europe.

The students competed in the First Table Tennis School Championship for GCC countries in Saudi Arabia, the Czech National Open diving championships and the GCC Group Short Course Championship in Kuwait and came first in a number of contests.